The 20th edition of the AMB created an excellent mood in the exhibition halls and in the industry. 64,298 visitors made their way across the fully booked Stuttgart exhibition center over five days. Thus, the AMB once again became the center of the metalworking industry. 1,238 exhibitors from all over the world – around 25 percent came from abroad – showed their innovations, products, services and concepts. Despite the difficult framework conditions, concrete projects, production and investments were discussed at the stands; current energy prices and supply chain bottlenecks were not the dominant topics.
“We’re back in the game! Five days AMB. Those were five days full of intensive discussions, meeting familiar faces and making new contacts. If the positive feedback from our exhibitors shows one thing, it is that it is precisely these encounters that make trade fairs like the AMB indispensable,” says Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart. “The comeback after the long break was urgently needed for the metalworking industry – and it was a complete success. The number of visitors is impressive and the full halls are also highly motivating for us as organizers.”
Future topics are in focus at the AMB
Digitization, automation, sustainability – these were the topics that received special attention this year. Innovations such as the Trend Lounge with its theme days, for example on the subject of climate change, the SmartFactory with the presentation of automated processes or the self-guided tours for individual visits to the trade fair were well received by the public.
Gunnar Mey, Director of Trade Fairs & Events at Messe Stuttgart, is pleased with the course of AMB: “After the break in 2020, AMB 2022 took off at the right time at the right location and with the right concept. The industry’s loyalty to its leading trade fair is impressive. We say thank you to exhibitors, visitors and our partners in the associations and media.”
AMB registers high visitor quality
Trade visitors came to Stuttgart from all over Europe. Around 18 percent came from abroad, slightly more than at AMB four years ago (17 percent). In total, visitors from 71 countries were registered. After Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, Italy, France and the Netherlands were the most strongly represented. 65 percent of the German visitors come primarily from Baden-Württemberg, with a further 18 percent from Bavaria. The largest proportion is active in mechanical engineering (37 percent), as well as the metalworking and processing industry (23 percent), the automotive industry and vehicle construction (18 percent), metal construction companies (13 percent) and tool and mold making (11 percent). represented at the AMB.
Many exhibitors report a high quality of visitors. The figures underscore this: 73 percent state that they play a decisive, co-deciding or advisory role in purchasing and procurement decisions in the company. One in ten comes from business, company or operational management. 38 percent also work in manufacturing, production or quality control, another 10 percent work in development and 8 percent in design.
In the area of machines, more than half of the visitors (53 percent) are interested in milling machines, 41 percent also in lathes and automatic lathes. There is also interest in grinding machines and tool grinding machines (19 percent), drilling machines (15 percent) and flexible manufacturing cells, systems and machining centers (14 percent).
When it comes to interest in products and services, CAD/CAM/CAE take first place with 32 percent and machining tools (29 percent). This is followed by clamping tools (25 percent), machine and production software (22 percent) and robots, workpiece and tool handling technology (22 percent).
Non-material sponsors of the AMB draw a positive conclusion
The conceptual sponsors of the AMB were all extremely satisfied with the course of the AMB. According to the VDMA and VDW, the personal contact after the long break and the intensive discussions were a major advantage of the trade fair.
Markus Heseding, Managing Director, VDMA Precision Tools and VDMA Measuring and Testing Technology: “The success of AMB 2022 proves that it is exactly the right offer for exhibitors and trade visitors. The trade fair presented innovative manufacturing technologies for the manufacturing of tomorrow. Our members are very satisfied with the quality of the discussions at their stands.”
Prof. Claus Oetter, Managing Director, VDMA Software and Digitization: “This year’s AMB was a complete success – we experienced full halls, the visitors flocked to Stuttgart. To see this – especially after four years of exhausting time without a trade fair – we as VDMA and ideal sponsor of the trade fair are all the more pleased. In Hall 2, we saw that innovative technologies and software are also important drivers for the metalworking industry. Demand from exhibitors and visitors was high, software is an important component and driver for metalworking.”
Dr Wilfried Schäfer, Managing Director, VDW (Association of German Machine Tool Builders): “Thumbs up! We experienced a successful restart of the AMB this week. Happy and satisfied faces everywhere, both among exhibitors and visitors. Above all, it was about meeting again and resuming personal business relationships after a very long time of virtual contacts. The AMB this week was the right platform for this at the right time.”
AMB Start-up 2022 honored in the Trend Lounge
The AMB also focused on young people and young entrepreneurs: in addition to the special youth show for recruiting young people, start-ups and young companies presented their innovations in the start-up area and at the BMWK joint stand. On Saturday, the “AMB Start-up 2022” was also chosen by a high-calibre jury in the Trend Lounge, and they were unanimous: “The format with the 15-minute pitches fits the AMB very well. There were great ideas. The solutions presented were all good. The topics match the machines and companies at the AMB, it was very entertaining to listen to. There will definitely be one or two more in-depth discussions to follow.”
After the pitches, gemineers GmbH emerged as the winner with their “Digital Twin Technology for the Shop Floor”. Vincent Gerretz, Co-Founder and Managing Director, was visibly pleased about the award: “For us as a young start-up, the award is really helpful. In this early phase it is important to make contacts in the industry, to generate attention and to exchange ideas. We are very happy about the award.”
AMB can build on great feedback
With a new visitor share of 47 percent, the AMB was again able to welcome many new guests to Stuttgart, in 2018 there were a similar number at 45 percent. For 40 percent of the visitors, the AMB is the number one information platform, they only visit the AMB and no other trade fair. On average, visitors stay at the AMB for 1.3 days, those from abroad a little longer at 2.0 days. All in all, the trade visitors rated the trade fair very positively with an overall rating of 1.8. 76 percent plan to visit the next AMB again in two years, 88 percent would recommend the AMB.
The next AMB will take place from September 10th to 14th, 2024.